Meatball Lasagna

What’s not to like about all of this? The meatballs provide a different texture than a traditional lasagna.

Mixing pasta, sauce, cheese, and meat together seems like a no brainer. But when they are placed in strategic layers and baked to a bubbling cauldron of flavor, a lasagna is born. This recipe uses three different meats for the meatball layer, two kinds of cheese, and a sauce that you can make (or go buy one).

SOFTWARE (meatballs)

·         1 1/2 lbs. hot Italian sausage, casing removed

·         1 lb. ground beef (90/10)

·         1 lb. ground pork

·         2 c. seasoned breadcrumbs or Panko

·         1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

·         1 t. kosher salt

·         1 t. freshly ground black pepper

·         1 t. garlic powder

·         1 t. onion powder

·         4 eggs

SOFTWARE (cheese)

·         15 oz. ricotta

·         3 eggs

·         4 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

·         16 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided into 3 equal parts

SOFTWARE (sauce)

·         28 oz. can whole tomatoes

·         28 oz. can puree tomatoes

·         2 T. garlic, minced

·         2 T. tomato paste

·         2 T. Italian seasoning

SOFTWARE (pasta)

·         9 oz. lasagna noodles

METHOD

1.       Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.       In a large bowl, mix all the meatball ingredients together with your hands. Don’t overwork the meat. Just bring everything together.

3.       Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Drizzle about 2 T. of olive oil on the bottom.

4.       Form the meatballs, taking care not to compress them too much. They should be slightly larger than a golf ball. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet. You may need to work in batches.

5.       Once the baking sheet is full, drizzle olive oil on top of the meatballs.

6.       Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

7.       While the meatballs are baking, mix the ricotta, eggs, and Parmesan cheese together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

8.       In a large pot over medium low heat, mix the sauce ingredients together and cook for about 15 minutes, breaking up the whole tomatoes as it cooks. You can add a little tomato juice or water if the sauce begins to thicken up.

9.       Prepare the lasagna noodles to package instructions for al dente. Rinse in cold water after they are done to prevent sticking.

10.   Assembly time!

11.   Cut all the meatballs in half. Alternatively, you could crumble the meatballs when adding to the dish.

12.   In a 13x9x2 pan, spread a layer of the sauce on the bottom.

13.   Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce, overlapping slightly.

14.   Spread 1/2 of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles.

15.   Place meatball halves on top of the ricotta mixture.

16.   Cover with sauce and top with 1/3 of the mozzarella.

17.   Repeat steps 13-16 one more time.

18.   Add one more layer of noodles, sauce, and mozzarella.

19.   Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees.

20.   Bake for 45 minutes.

21.   Remove and let cool for 15 minutes.

22.   Serve with extra sauce and cheese on the side and enjoy.

VARIANTS

If you want your final product to be less saucy, don’t use the puree and cut the tomato paste back to 1 tablespoon. If you make the meatballs smaller, you might not have to cut them in half, but you will need a deeper dish. Don’t like Parmesan cheese? Replace it with pecorino Romano, either in total or part.